Ford Sovine & Ford

Ford Sovine & Ford (FSF) is a Denver-area lobbying firm that represents the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association (CLBA), nominally a lobbying group for bar owners, but which also lobbies for tobacco interests. The name of Ford Sovine & Ford is derived from the Colorado lobbying triad of Chuck Ford, Cindy Sovine and Zack Ford. Chuck and Zack Ford are father and son, respectively. Chuck Ford has served as Director of the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association (CLBA), and CLBA operates out of the offices of Ford Sovine & Ford. CLBA is a long time Philip Morris (PM) ally and a member of PM's highly organized "Field Action Team," groups of business owners PM recruited and mobilizes in all 50 sates to fight restrictions on the sale and use of cigarettes. Chuck Ford of FSF has also lobbyied for the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company, according to a listing of Colorado lobbyists and who they represent issued in by GASP of Colorado in 2004. In an ironic twist, Ford Sovine & Ford, their close ties to alcohol and cigarette interests notwithstanding, also lobbies for the Colorado Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a group whose mission is "helping Colorado families become safe places for people to grow and thrive."

Zack Ford was Membership Director of the "Coalition for Equal Rights", a group that sprang up to oppose Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act, which on July 1, 2006 made most workplaces (including bars and restaurants) in Colorado smoke-free, to protect workers from the health effects of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

Cindy Sovine also lobbied for the Colorado Health and Hospital Association in 2004 and the Trauma Care Preservation Coalition, a group of hospitals and health care agencies, in 2006.

Resources
Unethical Bedfellows: Clients of Colorado's Most Influential Tobacco Lobbyists, a listing of Colorado lobbyists and who they represent, from GASP of Colorado newsletter, 2004. Available from GASP (Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution) of Colorado, www.gaspforair.org (located in Boulder, Colorado)

Colorado Secretary of State Professional Employer Lobbyist Report, September 14, 2006